To start with, my score in the "Need for achivement" section is 8 out of 12: it shows that I am more ambitious than truly careerist, which is the case in real life. Indeed, I am not "corporate-ambitious" like most people would expect a Grad student in a good Business school to be. I am rather oriented to finding and having an optimum balance between being fulfilled both in my professional and my personal life. I have many plans, projects and ideas in life and do intend to achieve them. I am not surprised that Natacha Blazquez, my schoolmate and work partner, has the same score as me since she doesn't plan to be a corporate girl either !
However, my score in "Autonomy and Independance" is 3 out of 6. I both like to work in a group and on my own, to be independent and get people's opinion and input, which might explain this average. Again, Natacha and I share the same score for this section: it really reflects the way we both work, at school and in the associations !
Concerning the "Creative tendency" section, I have a high score of 10 out of 12. I wouldn't have though so because I don't consider myself particularly creative in the first place. However, after reading some of the propositions below the score, it explains what high scores can mean : being a daydreamer, curious, intuitive, enjoying challenges and novelty, which indeed fits me very well !
The fourth section is about "Calculated risk taking". My score is rather high, 9 out of 12. It means that I am able to assess data and information, and evaluate my business capabilities. In other words, being objective and moderate in my judgments.
The "Drive and Determination" section, for which I got a high 11 out of 12, is very significant ! Indeed, when I set my mind on something, I do everything to make it happen. I usually get what I want, no matter how much time, effort and work I have to put in ! Talk about determination !
TALENT MANAGEMENT Here is a list of qualities and talents that I think would help me to become a successful entrepreneur:
I am very enthousiastic and passionate about the projects I undertake : passion shows in what I do.
My resourcefulness never lets me down !
I am not scared to toil in order to get what I want
I am open-minded, determined, not shy in front of challenges and obstacles
Being a polyglot never hurts
Here is what I think may be less supportive for me to be a successful entrepreneur :
Being sometimes un-at-ease with figures : for instance, I neither am good at, nor like accounting and control management. But as long as I am able to handle basic accounting - which is the case, I think I will be fine with my SME. And in any case, in France, most businesses have to hire an independent accountant at some point. So I'm covered !
I'm quite impatient... so I sometimes have to bite my tongue and force myself to remain calm.
I'm surely a bit naive and too nice ! :-)
RELEVANT WEBSITES for ENTREPRENEURS There is one French website that I like a lot - I started reading it long before starting this course. It is: "Tout savoir sur la Création d'Entreprise: Créez votre boîte !" http://www.gautier-girard.com/
About : Gautier Girard is an entrepreneur. He has created his first business in 2002, at age 19. From this first adventure was born a second company, which he founded in 2004. This second business was then sold in 2007. Today, Gautier shares his experience through his website, the articles and electronic books he writes, as well as the conferences he holds.
Why is this website interesting: It contains many useful and interesting resources for all entrepreneurs:
Feature/leading articles on business themes
Articles on the French, European and global economic situation
(Business) books reviews
Interviews of entrepreneurs and managers
Tools to help entrepreneurs create, manage and develop their business (eg. network between the members of the site)
Diary of the entrepreneurs
Useful links, towards : other entrepreneurs and managers' blogs, resources in web marketing and communication...
a very active forum
and last, but not least, a small ads section
How is this website useful for my business ? This resource is great to help entrepreneurs start and develop SME like mine. Indeed, in addition to all of the tools proposed, Gautier Girard is very active at answering the questions of business-starters on the forum. There is also a great network of entrepreneurs/members spread throughout France, which is good for local SME like mine in Grenoble. Last, a decent part of this website is dedicated to informing around the new French "auto-entrepreneur" status.
Comparision : There is another website that I also like and which completes Gautier Girard's website very well.
It is : http://www.manager-go.com/. This website contains a wide range of tools for managers. Just like the first one, is has resources concerning starting and developing a SME, but in addition to that, it contains useful articles on various fields (Sales, Law, Human Resources, Team Management, Finance, Strategy...).
--> The former website has the advantage of having created a little business community around the forum and the network, and is therefore warmer and more personalized - all the more as there is a name and a face behind it.
--> The latter, on the other hand, looks drier = more professional and strict.
PICTURE SEARCH Bing is the latest search engine by Microsoft. After searching the term "Entrepreneur" in the "Images" section, I scrolled through some (!) of the 6 790 000 results to find the one that seemed the most relevant according to me:
How I picture entrepreneurs
First, there isn't one best way, or even one way, to be an entrepreneur: top degrees VS no studies, youngster initiative VS late-life dream, city-dweller VS country-dweller, on-line business VS market stands, all can lead to booming businesses.
In addition, different initiatives fall under the entrepreneurship status : a lemonade stand shows entrepreneurship, just like a million-dollar nano-technology invention does.
Therefore, the "one way" sign shows what is expected, correct and usual to do. The two men walking opposite in a very determined way show all of the lead, determination and self-confidence needed to reach one's goal - even if it means going off the tracks to do so.
As Randy Crochet, the CEO and co-founder of NAKEDpizza puts it :
"Entrepreneurs don't give a damn. They just go for it". HOMEWORK
If you remember, those sneakers were the one I wore for the oral presentation !
A pair of bright pink Converse ! How does it reflect my entrepreneur viewpoint ?
Pink means daring and full of energy ! That's what an entrepreneur need to be !
Comfy shoes, because we will have to step out of our confort zone daily for our entrepreneurial activities - let's not make life any harder :-)
Sneakers : we shouldn't walk, but run faster than the competitors and arrive prior them to beat them in the market.
And can you see that they are already in motion ! One step after the other will get us there...
TREND WATCHING: TRENDS for 2010 Trendwatching.com (link) is one of the world's leading trend firms, which scans the globe for emerging consumer trends.
There are many fresh consumer trends proposed for 2010 on this website.
For my business, which you can take a glance here, I have selected the following trends, as presented in class: 1. Trend : Sustrainability, Green wave, Back to basics
Using organic eggs
Using almond flower from fair trade
2. Trend : "Chef à domicile"
With the macaron-making classes
To listen to and answer the customers' wants
Follows and spread the trend of DIY
Learn how to make something yourself rather than buy it
3. Trend : Eco-easy
Minimum packing of the product
Eco-friendly packaging, thanks to the use of recycled materials
GENERATION G (G for generosity !) captures the growing importance of generosity as a leading societal and business mindset. As consumers are disgusted with greed and its current dire consequences for the economy, the need for more generosity beautifully coincides with the ongoing (and pre-recession) emergence of an online-fueled culture of individuals who share, give, engage, create and collaborate.
For many, sharing a passion and consequently receiving recognition has replaced 'taking' as their status symbol of choice. Businesses should follow this societal and behavioral shift, as much it may oppose their age-old devotion to me, myself and I.
There are several ways I could implement Eco-generosity in my future business:
Being generous to the customers: by offering occasional baking-classes, for instance to school kids and in outdoor centers;
Being generous to the environment: by using organic and fair-trade products as often as possible : they make a difference;
Being generous to the community: by giving away, rather than throwing, all the unsold food (eg. to "Les restos du Coeur").
2 - Next practice, not best practice BEST PRACTICE What is Best Practice ?
Accoring to Visitask, the Project management training and resources website, Best Practice is a superior method or innovative practice that contributes to the improved performance of an organization, usually recognized as "best" by other peer organizations. It implies accumulating and applying knowledge about what is working and not working in different situations and contexts, including lessons learned and the continuing process of learning, feedback, reflection and analysis (what works, how and why). Therefore, I personally understand "Best Practice" as being a specific technic that allows a company to be more effective when applying it.
Practices applied to my Business -> I could use a baking trick that has proven succesful for bakers at Ladurée or at Pierre Hermé;
-> I would love to apply the Twitter business idea seen in class to my business: the Crème Brûlée business on a cart, which informs its customers of its daily location through Twitter. How about informing my patrons of when and where I will be selling my products at local markets ?
The crème brûlée cart @ http://twitter.com/CremeBruleeCart
-> I could also benefit from the crowdsourcing of Twitter: people could suggest new flavors combinations that way ! How exciting !
-> How about macarons following trends, to please the fashionistas ? Trendy colors, trendy fillings, trendy patterns...
-> The twist of my busines ? It is an eco-yummy-pleasure-chic one ! It has a positive impact on minds (happiness, excitment, pleasure of eating macarons), the planet (organic and fair trade ingredients, minimum and recycled packaging) and the communities (bringing people together in the classes, closeness to the customer, unique social experience for kids and adults).
Naked Pizza In class, we have watched the movie on Naked Pizza at http://www.entrepreneur.com/video/index.html.
Through it, the founders talk about creating jobs and promoting healthy eating in post-Katrina New Orleans.
Here is how they have implemented some unique practices and showed forward-thinking entrepreneurial characteristics:
NAKEDpizza was started with a vision by its two co-founders : "hacking" the $30 billion pizza industry and its proven business model of take-out and delivery by re-skinning it with a deep, compelling social mission.
The pair decided to re-engineer fast-food, proving that its pervasive reach can benefit people rather than exploit them with unhealthy food.
NAKEDpizza functions as a "communication company," with pizza as the distribution medium.
Its mission is based on evolutionary science, digestive health and an understanding of the microbial world that influences health and well-being.
NAKEDpizza uses technology and the media to tell its story, including Twitter and Facebook with the web 2.0. The positive attention it has brought has certainly contributed to its rapid success.
The ingredients used are unique and different, while looking and tasting the same (eg. the dough contains 12 whole grains, nuts and roots and is fortified with prebiotics and probiotics). They have clearly being thought outside the box !
There is no success story without the right connections: the business angels and millionaires Mark Cuban and Jonathan Kraft of The Kraft Group used their imagination and wallets to help launch NAKEDpizza and transform it into the success it is today.
To sum up: It's clearly their deep-rooted confidence and tremendous passion that has kept Randy Crochet and Jeff Leach's journey in motion. Their big idea & unique concept was much thought of, and has allowed to initiate a revolution to change the way the world thinks about food. Their business has generated social impact and created jobs, not only in New Orleans, but around the country.
3 - Prasena Competencies Management tool
CORE COMPETENCIES The five core competencies which I think my team must cover, in order to make my entrepreneurial idea succesful are complementary :
TECHNICAL :
- Accounting
- Multimedia skills
BEHAVIORAL :
- Analytical skills
- Partnering with technologies
- Real-time orientation
Some competencies we could also add are the following: attention to details, initiatives and diplomacy.
4 - Blue Ocean Strategy
BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY OF SEVERAL COMPANIES
-NetJet: owning a jet without the inconvenients - BodyShop : emphasize on fair trade, natural products and environmental-friendly packagings - StarBucks: confortable place to have social interaction and spend or share quality time - Ebay: new way of doing business :selling from your own home. Your can both be a buyer and a seller. - Nintendo Wii: unique sensations proposed when playing video games. Social moments spent when playing a video game, which was more induvidual before. - Ikea: cheap but guaranteed products. Designer goods on a budget. - Fedex: safety of sending products ad letters, and great customer service - CNN : the only 24/7 media with live news.
More MY OWN ANIMOTO VIDEO ! Here is my Animoto video to promote my business, Les macarons de Pauline !
Hello !
I am Pauline Vettier Global Entrepreneurship student from Group A
Welcome to my research page on Wikispaces !
We will discuss the world of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship
It is related to my blogpage, which you can find here:
http://macaronspauline.wordpress.com/My blog is dedicated to my business project,
Les macarons de Pauline
1 - A true entrepreneur
ENTREPRENEUR PERSONALITYLet's discuss my entrepreneur personality, from the results I have obtained on the GET Test, at www.palgrave.com :
TALENT MANAGEMENT
Here is a list of qualities and talents that I think would help me to become a successful entrepreneur:
Here is what I think may be less supportive for me to be a successful entrepreneur :
RELEVANT WEBSITES for ENTREPRENEURS
There is one French website that I like a lot - I started reading it long before starting this course. It is:
"Tout savoir sur la Création d'Entreprise: Créez votre boîte !"
http://www.gautier-girard.com/
About : Gautier Girard is an entrepreneur. He has created his first business in 2002, at age 19. From this first adventure was born a second company, which he founded in 2004. This second business was then sold in 2007. Today, Gautier shares his experience through his website, the articles and electronic books he writes, as well as the conferences he holds.
Why is this website interesting: It contains many useful and interesting resources for all entrepreneurs:
How is this website useful for my business ? This resource is great to help entrepreneurs start and develop SME like mine. Indeed, in addition to all of the tools proposed, Gautier Girard is very active at answering the questions of business-starters on the forum. There is also a great network of entrepreneurs/members spread throughout France, which is good for local SME like mine in Grenoble. Last, a decent part of this website is dedicated to informing around the new French "auto-entrepreneur" status.
Comparision : There is another website that I also like and which completes Gautier Girard's website very well.
It is : http://www.manager-go.com/. This website contains a wide range of tools for managers. Just like the first one, is has resources concerning starting and developing a SME, but in addition to that, it contains useful articles on various fields (Sales, Law, Human Resources, Team Management, Finance, Strategy...).
--> The former website has the advantage of having created a little business community around the forum and the network, and is therefore warmer and more personalized - all the more as there is a name and a face behind it.
--> The latter, on the other hand, looks drier = more professional and strict.
PICTURE SEARCH
Bing is the latest search engine by Microsoft. After searching the term "Entrepreneur" in the "Images" section, I scrolled through some (!) of the 6 790 000 results to find the one that seemed the most relevant according to me:
First, there isn't one best way, or even one way, to be an entrepreneur: top degrees VS no studies, youngster initiative VS late-life dream, city-dweller VS country-dweller, on-line business VS market stands, all can lead to booming businesses.
In addition, different initiatives fall under the entrepreneurship status : a lemonade stand shows entrepreneurship, just like a million-dollar nano-technology invention does.
Therefore, the "one way" sign shows what is expected, correct and usual to do. The two men walking opposite in a very determined way show all of the lead, determination and self-confidence needed to reach one's goal - even if it means going off the tracks to do so.
As Randy Crochet, the CEO and co-founder of NAKEDpizza puts it :
"Entrepreneurs don't give a damn. They just go for it".
HOMEWORK
A pair of bright pink Converse ! How does it reflect my entrepreneur viewpoint ?
TREND WATCHING: TRENDS for 2010
Trendwatching.com (link) is one of the world's leading trend firms, which scans the globe for emerging consumer trends.
There are many fresh consumer trends proposed for 2010 on this website.
For my business, which you can take a glance here, I have selected the following trends, as presented in class:
1. Trend : Sustrainability, Green wave, Back to basics
2. Trend : "Chef à domicile"
3. Trend : Eco-easy
4. Trend : Urban experience
- Bringing Parisian chic to Grenoble
- Giving provincials a sense of luxury
" And thanks to near-total online transparency of the latest and greatest, those consumers opting to remain in rural areas will be tempted to act (and shop) online like urban consumers, too."5. Trend : Premium
To sum up : Green & Yummy + Practical & Smart + Easy + Chic + Exclusive = A great business idea !
ONE IMPRESSIVE TREND
The one specific trend that impressed me in http://trendwatching.com is the Eco-generosity.
GENERATION G (G for generosity !) captures the growing importance of generosity as a leading societal and business mindset. As consumers are disgusted with greed and its current dire consequences for the economy, the need for more generosity beautifully coincides with the ongoing (and pre-recession) emergence of an online-fueled culture of individuals who share, give, engage, create and collaborate.
For many, sharing a passion and consequently receiving recognition has replaced 'taking' as their status symbol of choice. Businesses should follow this societal and behavioral shift, as much it may oppose their age-old devotion to me, myself and I.
There are several ways I could implement Eco-generosity in my future business:
2 - Next practice, not best practice
BEST PRACTICE
What is Best Practice ?
Accoring to Visitask, the Project management training and resources website, Best Practice is a superior method or innovative practice that contributes to the improved performance of an organization, usually recognized as "best" by other peer organizations. It implies accumulating and applying knowledge about what is working and not working in different situations and contexts, including lessons learned and the continuing process of learning, feedback, reflection and analysis (what works, how and why). Therefore, I personally understand "Best Practice" as being a specific technic that allows a company to be more effective when applying it.
Practices applied to my Business
-> I could use a baking trick that has proven succesful for bakers at Ladurée or at Pierre Hermé;
-> I would love to apply the Twitter business idea seen in class to my business: the Crème Brûlée business on a cart, which informs its customers of its daily location through Twitter. How about informing my patrons of when and where I will be selling my products at local markets ?
-> I could also benefit from the crowdsourcing of Twitter: people could suggest new flavors combinations that way ! How exciting !
-> How about macarons following trends, to please the fashionistas ? Trendy colors, trendy fillings, trendy patterns...
-> The twist of my busines ? It is an eco-yummy-pleasure-chic one ! It has a positive impact on minds (happiness, excitment, pleasure of eating macarons), the planet (organic and fair trade ingredients, minimum and recycled packaging) and the communities (bringing people together in the classes, closeness to the customer, unique social experience for kids and adults).
Naked Pizza
In class, we have watched the movie on Naked Pizza at http://www.entrepreneur.com/video/index.html.
Through it, the founders talk about creating jobs and promoting healthy eating in post-Katrina New Orleans.
Here is how they have implemented some unique practices and showed forward-thinking entrepreneurial characteristics:
To sum up: It's clearly their deep-rooted confidence and tremendous passion that has kept Randy Crochet and Jeff Leach's journey in motion. Their big idea & unique concept was much thought of, and has allowed to initiate a revolution to change the way the world thinks about food. Their business has generated social impact and created jobs, not only in New Orleans, but around the country.
3 - Prasena Competencies Management tool
CORE COMPETENCIES
The five core competencies which I think my team must cover, in order to make my entrepreneurial idea succesful are complementary :
TECHNICAL :
- Accounting
- Multimedia skills
BEHAVIORAL :
- Analytical skills
- Partnering with technologies
- Real-time orientation
Some competencies we could also add are the following: attention to details, initiatives and diplomacy.
4 - Blue Ocean Strategy
BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY OF SEVERAL COMPANIES
- NetJet: owning a jet without the inconvenients
- BodyShop : emphasize on fair trade, natural products and environmental-friendly packagings
- StarBucks: confortable place to have social interaction and spend or share quality time
- Ebay: new way of doing business :selling from your own home. Your can both be a buyer and a seller.
- Nintendo Wii: unique sensations proposed when playing video games. Social moments spent when playing a video game, which was more induvidual before.
- Ikea: cheap but guaranteed products. Designer goods on a budget.
- Fedex: safety of sending products ad letters, and great customer service
- CNN : the only 24/7 media with live news.
More
MY OWN ANIMOTO VIDEO !
Here is my Animoto video to promote my business, Les macarons de Pauline !
MY BUSINESS CANVAS
The Business Model Canvas for Les macarons de Pauline.pdf